For previous years' lists and commentaries, often incomplete, click 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009; 2008;
2007; 2006; 2005; 2004; 2003; 2002; 2001. I seem to have
lost the file for 2000.
Robin Fox, in Italy, keeps a similarly updated diary HERE.
SCROLL DOWN for the 2025 CHECKLIST or use the menu below to jump to the
COMMENTARY for each month.
CHECKLIST
FOR THE YEAR 2025
Red admiral (Vanessa atalanta) - 1st January - Valais, Switzerland
Queen of Spain fritillary (Issoria lathonia) - 18th January - Valais, Switzerland
Small tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) - 4th February - Vaud, Switzerland
Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni) - 2nd March - North Italy
Comma (Polygonia c-album) - 2nd March - North Italy
Commentary (Links in the
commentary are to pictures of the particular butterflies referred to)
January
1st: Happy New Year! 2025 began cold and bright. We did our usual New
Year's Day butterfly hunt in the Rhône Valley vineyards, hoping that
the red admiral we saw on 29th December might still be around. Snow still lay thick on the ground in many places and out of the sun some of the tracks were teacherous. But it was sunny at my winter hotspot and eventually I did see a red admiral. It flew in both directions along this track
before disappearing over the bank into the vineyards above - so no
photograph. But a New Year's Day butterfly is a New Year's Day
butterfly! Earlier, I had very distant views of what I took to be a
goshawk but am not so sure now, looking at the pictures. Here is a very poor flight shot, showing the barring of the upperside and (in the shadow) the prominent fingering. It landed and I got this shot
(a tiny crop from a much bigger picture - it was a very long way away).
By the time I got closer, it was gone. Rock buntings, goldfinches,
chaffinches and greenfinches were moving around in mixed flocks (here
are a rock bunting and a chaffinch) and on the sunny banks there were plenty of lizards (and here). 2nd: Red sky in the morning, prophesying snow later in the day. It hadn't arrived by our afternoon walk but it did snow in the evening. Here is a misty view when the snow was very light and Minnie agreed to go for a walk. 3rd: A bright morning with fresh snow dusting the ground and trees (and here). The kids had made an igloo on the tennis courts. 4th: A bright morning, clouding over later. 5th: It is suddenly much warmer. I went for a cross-country ski on the Leysin pistes this afternoon and the snow was already slow and heavy. Here is the evening sky. 6th: Much of the snow has now melted at moderate altitudes. This is on our walk to work, in Chesières. 7th: There is still snow in Leysin (and here). 8th: Rain and generally fairly grim today! Leysin still has its Christmas lights, so our evening walk was bright. 9th: Rain again, turning to snow by late evening. 10th: Finally, the cold has returned and it snowed much of today. Here is a misty evening view. 11th: A cold day in the mountains. In the morning, I went to Montreux to pick something up. Here is Freddie Mercury, strutting his stuff by the lake ... And here is Leysin in the evening again. 12th: Beautiful sunshine
today - but temperatures well below zero so no chance of butterflies.
In the afternoon I took a cross-country ski. It turned out the pistes hadn't been groomed in Leysin, so it was again hard work, despite the lovely, cold snow. Here is the view towards the Dents du Midi at about sunset. 13th: Another cold, bright day. Tonight was the first full moon of 2025. Here she is shortly after rising. I then caught her in a street lamp. And here she is in all her glory.
Although the sky was perfectly clear, I wasn't in the right place at
the right time to see this year's bright comet! Maybe tomorrow ... 14th: Bright and cold, with cloud in the valley. 15th: Still bright and cold. This was taken on our walk to work and this on the way back. This is the evening sky, with Orion over the Grand Chamossaire and Mars below Castor and Pollux. 16th: Bright and cold again (and here). 17th: I wondered if the continued sun might have brought out some tortoiseshells in the cemetery, but nothing flew. It was just too cold. Here is the view over the valley. 18th: Although the Rhône Valley north of Martigny was under thick cloud, the forecast was for bright sun all day from Martigny eastward.
So we visited our usual winter hotspots in the vineyards, hoping for a
red admiral or even perhaps a Queen of Spain. When we reached the first hotspot,
at about 10h30, it was still bitterly cold - 1°C - and nothing was
flying. We moved on after about 20 minutes. Very soon after this, the
first Queen of Spain of the day appeared and posed beautifully for photos.
The temperature was still no more than 2°C and even in the sun it felt
cold, but he had decided to make the most of it! Half an hour later,
walking back past my first hotspot, I spotted a second Queen,
who again allowed good photos. By now it was about 3°C. We walked the
long way back, taking some time at a winter clouded yellow spot. No
clouded yellows flew, but we did find a third Queen of Spain. This one settled less photogenically in the grass. Flocks of rock buntings (and here)
were roaming the vineyards and I saw one hummingbird hawk moth. There
are very few nectar plants around but in places there are mats of field speedwell, as well as a few Potentilla flowers. 19th: Another of those days when the valley is in cloud and it is lovely up in the mountains (and here, and here). 20th: View over the valley on the way to work in Chesières. Here is Minnie walking back to the bus at lunchtime, by when it was quite sunny. 21st: Another day of thick cloud in the valley. Here is the evening view of Mars and Jupiter. 22nd: Walking to work. The snow has mostly gone at this altitude (about 1100m). 23rd: A wet and fairly miserable day! Here is an evening view of active cloud over Leysin. 24th: Morning walkies. 25th: Morning walkies. 26th: More fresh snow. This is the same view as yesterday morning, but now white again. 27th: Early morning. It is still fairly snow-free in Chesières. 28th: Fresh snow for our morning walk (and here). This is our afternoon walk a little higher in Leysin, and this the evening view. 29th: Bright and cold. 30th: Morning in Chesières. 31st: A day of thick cloud. Here is the American School, right at the top of Leysin - and still in cloud - and here is a view from our afternoon walk.
February
1st: We walked up to try and escape the cloud today but it followed us up the mountain! At times, it was a complete white-out. This picture shows the rolling waves of cloud during one of the brief periods when we could see blue sky. 2nd: A sunny day but not warm. We visited the cemetery to see if any small tortoiseshells were on the wing but saw none. This is the view towards the Dents du Midi. 3rd: The south-facing meadows
in Chesières are very bare now. I wished I'd had my camera this morning
as a distant stoat, pure white in its winter livery (but with a black
tail-tip) was hunting a hundred metres or more away, near a road. This video clip was taken with my iPhone - but all you can see is a tiny white thing bouncing around! In the shade there is still some snow, though. 4th: I took another trip at about midday to the cemetery (and here).
Again, despite the sun, I saw no small tortoiseshells feeding on the
heather. Then, as we left, a single tortoiseshell appeared near the
road and disappeared before I had even got off my bike. So I headed a
little higher, to the south-facing meadows above the cemetery, and
quickly saw another two tortoiseshells sparring. They didn't return, so
I pushed the bike up through the snow to slightly higher slopes, where I know small tortoiseshells fly early. There, I quickly found and photographed this individual (and here) and this one. A total of 5 small tortoiseshells. More may well fly tomorrow, though I will be working ... 5th: Another sunny day. At about midday, as we walked for the bus in Chesières, two small tortoiseshells were flying on this bank. I got a rather distant photo of one on my iPhone, of which this is a crop. 6th: When I left in the morning, Leysin was above the cloud. Chesières, however, was still in cloud
when I arrived. At that time, I could see from my webcam that Leysin
was enjoying sun, but by the time I got home the cloud had risen. 7th: A brightish morning, leading to cloud later. Here is Minnie in a school room while I taught. 8th: Cloudy. I had to go to the valley to buy Minnie a new lead and harness, so we had a little walk along the Rhône. It was cold! 9th: A cloudy morning leading to a sunny but cold day - peaking at about 4°C. I cycled Minnie to the cemetery
at lunchtime, seeing just one small tortoiseshell on arrival (it flew
under the bike as I cycled past). As on 4th Feb, I then went up through
the snowy woods
to sunny banks higher up, where I saw another single small
tortoiseshell - also in flight, while I was talking to another dog
walker. Here is the moon rising through haze in the evening. 10th: Cloudy (and here). 11th: Another gloomy day (and here). 12th: There is now very little snow in the meadows in Chesières. 13th: On a wet morning, here is my first cowslip of the year (on my walk to work in Chesières). A frightening evening sky! 14th: A bitterly cold morning, with wonderful cloud formations all day. In the afternoon I went to Lausanne to buy spices. Here is the lake from Ouchy. 15th:
It was -15°C overnight in Leysin but a brilliant sunny day was
forecast, so we set off for the Rhône Valley in the morning. When we
arrived in Martigny it was still subzero, but by the time we reached
the first winter hotspot it was +1°C. As we rounded the corner, a small tortoiseshell flew, closely followed - literally - by a Queen of Spain. They landed close to each other, then the Queen moved in,
apparently romantically. I was some distance away and couldn’t get
brilliant pictures, but it was a good start to the day. Over the next
couple of hours we saw more of both species, probably reaching double
figures for each (it wasn’t always possible to tell which were
different individuals). Here, here and here are more Queens and here and here more small tortoiseshells. This Queen
had lost most of its wings - perhaps to a bird or lizard or perhaps to
a vineyard strimmer - but it seemed to be enjoying itself. It could fly
directionally and had found a good bank of speedwell to nectar on. Here
is a view along the Rhône Valley.
By the time we left it was still only 3°C according to my watch. We had
to go early as we needed to get back to Leysin and out again to visit
friends. No red admirals and no clouded yellows. The cold appears to
have finished these off for the season. Lizards were common on the rocks and banks. 16th: My birthday. It was a sunny, if chilly day, so Minnie and I went to the cemetery
at lunchtime to see if any tortoiseshells would be flying. Sure enough,
there were at least half a dozen - perhaps more - on the wing. They
were very active and hardly ever stopped, even on the heather. Perhaps
we should have gone earlier in the morning, when they would still have
been warming up. Here
is one who did pose for me. In the evening I was playing the piano for
church in Villars, and as it was my birthday I didn't get back home
until late. Just as we got into the flat, my birthday moon was rising behind the Grand Chamossaire. 17th: Another sunny but chilly day.
In and around the cemetery, three or four small tortoiseshells were on
the wing. Again, they were restless and rarely stopping, but this one and this one paused long enough for a quick photo. It felt bitter, as haze from the valley was drifting over (and here) and there was a distinct breeze. 18th: Another glorious day. In the morning, choughs were gathered (as always recently) on the railings by the road, from where they popped over to dig food out of the walls. Small tortoiseshells were flying in the cemetery, often in couples (and here).
It all feels very springlike, despite the low temperatures - but there
is doubtless more snow to come before the real spring. Black
woodpeckers were conspicuous, both by their noise (calls and drumming)
and even in their sudden dashes between trees. I had no chances for
photos, though. 19th: Another beautiful day. We set out after lunch intending to do a short walk but Minnie was on form so we climbed a bit higher and descended back down to the cemetery, from where we walked home. Throughout the walk, small tortoiseshells appeared. Numbers were low but they were distributed widely - there is a general emergence. Here, here and here are different individuals - that last one in the cemetery, where several were flying, courting and sparring. Here is a red kite circling high above Leysin. 20th:
After a gloomy morning it seemed mild and even sometimes sunny in the
afternoon. For a break, we wandered round lower Leysin and the Suchet,
to see if anything was flying there. It wasn't! Here is the view of the
Grand Chamossaire from the Suchet. 21st: We cycled out to the cemetery again today. Here is Minnie in the nearby meadows. The clouds are coming but the butterflies were still flying. Here and here are two different small tortoiseshells. 22nd: Overcast - seemingly no chance of butterflies today. We took our afternoon walk at Villeneuve, where despite some sunny spells the prediction held true - no butterflies. Here is the view over Les Grangettes and here the view out towards Victoria's tree. 23rd:
Very overcast and absolutely no chance of wild butterflies today, so we
took a trip to the Papiliorama. It turned out to be more crowded than
I've ever known it - probably because it was a wet, miserable,
half-term day - but I saw the usual range of species, including Hebomoia glaucippe, Phoebis philea, Papilio dardanus, Papilio lowi(and here, a male), Heliconius ismenius, Cethosia biblis, Fountainea nobilis, Doleschallia bisaltide, Consul fabius,Catonephele numilia and many more. Here is a lusty group of Heliconius hecale and here a still crumply Danaus genutia pumping up on a tree. There are plenty of tropical birds in the simulated forest there, including red-crested turacos, currasows, white-winged doves, toucans and roseate spoonbills (I've posted a video here). There are always one or two fruit bats hanging around! 24th: A work day! The sky was brilliantly red before dawn (and here) but the rest of the day was rather gloomy! 25th: Cool but bright. We took our lunchtime walk around Leysin (and here). The snow returned in the evening. 26th: A snowy day. And here. 27th: A working day. Here and here are pictures from our evening walk. 28th: A bitterly cold morning gave way to a bright but cold day (and here). In the sunnier parts of our lunchtime walk, small tortoiseshells were flying over the banks, despite temperatures of just 1°C. More were on the wing in the cemetery - here, here and here.
March 1st: A hazy day. Here is Leysin in the evening and here the old moon in the new moon's arms. 2nd: We got up early
and caught the 07h00 from Leysin, arriving in Domodossola at 09h53. We
then walked the 6km to our usual March site, arriving there at about
11h15. Minnie is a slow walker now so I actually picked her up and
carried her most of the way! I expected to see lots of butterflies but
in the event, despite warm sunshine all day, almost nothing flew. At
11h30 I saw a first brimstone - a male, in flight. I didn’t see another
butterfly for an hour, when a red admiral briefly crossed our path.
Then a second brimstone flew past as we took a refreshment break and an
unidentified Lycaenid took off as we passed some bushes. It was
probably a small copper but I can’t rule out green hairstreak - I just
didn’t get a good enough view, into the sun. Here is one of our rest stops and here one of the hairy traverses - though less hairy now it has been shored up! As we began walking home, a second red admiral appeared and allowed a distant photo. Shortly after this I spotted a comma
nectaring on some flowers in the village and a small tortoiseshell
zoomed past nearby. That was it for the day - no more butterflies! I
did in fact see one other, shortly before heading home, and it might
well have been a nettle tree butterfly. But I saw it too briefly and
can’t rule out comma. It was near some nettle trees and flew around a
bit before settling out of sight up a slope from where I was. By the
time I’d climbed the slope it was gone. There were no butterflies at
all in the wild expanses around the river Toce
on the edge of Domodossola. Normally I can guarantee at least a Queen
of Spain there, even in February, and there are often small coppers and
large tortoiseshells. But nothing today. Minnie was able to have a well deserved drink, though. All in all, a quite surprisingly butterfly-free day, but we had a good walk. Minnie slept all the way home! April
